The reason Levi had originally chosen to help Liliruca become stronger was actually quite clear—to obtain the Soma Divine Wine, and subsequently brew 5-Star or even 6-Star Ice and Fire Wine.
To this end, he had spent quite a bit of Valis on Liliruca.
1-Star, 2-Star, and 3-Star Ice and Fire Wines were supplied almost without limit.
It was just that as a Pallum, the young girl's potential was ultimately somewhat lacking; often, after drinking three to four bottles of Ice and Fire Wine, her Five-dimensional Ability Stats would reach their limit.
Liliruca also understood her own issues. After her Falna level rose to Lv.3, she specifically sought out Levi and, after obtaining his consent, delayed her return to the Soma Familia.
Then, upon hearing that Senior Lyra and Senior Asta were going to obtain the Feats for leveling up to Lv.4, she volunteered to join in.
For the following day, situated within the Colosseum on the 37th Floor, she fought desperately in every single battle.
This was because her Potential Ability Stats plus her Existing Ability Stats were far lower than Lv.4.
Unlike Lyra and Asta, who accumulated enough Feats in less than half an hour under the support of Levi's White Grail domain, Liliruca had to struggle.
Having her arm severed, her internal organs pierced, her head separated from her body (the shield Levi released only protected Liliruca's head)...
Tortures she had never experienced in the past were tasted by Liliruca one by one.
This was because Levi's support abilities had now been pushed to the limit. It was truly at a level where, as long as one hadn't breathed their last, they could be brought back using the three-stroke combo of 'White Grail', 'Sage Art: Salvation from Misery', and 'Strongest Special Blend'.
If anyone else had been in charge of logistical support, Liliruca would have died an unknown number of times by now.
However, it was precisely because of her own weakness that Liliruca instead became the first adventurer to fully benefit from the effects of the 'Hero Creation' skill.
Between the repeated moments of near-death and life recovery, her Five-dimensional Ability Stats surpassed her own limits multiple times. The extra Ability Stats temporarily gained through Levi's skill also quietly reached several hundred points.
Even her use of the long spear became increasingly proficient and sharp.
Finally, in a battle of offense and defense against monsters that would have amazed even the gods, Liliruca seized a gap when the opponent attacked. Her long spear thrust out rapidly, successfully shattering the Magic Stone within its body.
It was precisely this singular experience that allowed her to grow to Lv.4.
Furthermore, before leveling up, all her Ability Stats, except for Magic, had broken through to Rank B.
Unlike the Pallum girl who was moved by the protagonist Bell Cranel in the anime of his past life, the Liliruca who followed Levi had not actually changed much in personality.
She was still full of hostility toward adventurers and still did not believe in the kindness and beauty of the world.
If possible, Liliruca did not mind utilizing every opportunity to become stronger quickly.
And Levi, out of the surplus composure of the strong, was also willing to give this young girl a push from behind—of course, mainly because with the completion of the programming for the 'Seven-Colored Divine Light', his demand for Soma Divine Wine was already close to zero. Whether he took control of the Soma Familia a little earlier or a little later did not matter.
"Let's call it a day." Levi rubbed the head of the girl in front of him, thoroughly messing up her brown hair amidst her grumbling sounds. "However, I can give you a guarantee. Even after you return to the Soma Familia, if you wish, I can help you gather the Feats to upgrade to Lv.5."
With her employer saying this much, what reaction could Liliruca give?
"I understand, Lord Levi. Please do not... do not forget Lili."
After bidding farewell to Liliruca, Levi did not remain idle. He only kept one Spirit Clone in the Labyrinth's 37th Floor to continue farming gold and money.
The remaining five Valkyries returned to the stronghold on the surface via 'Space Displaced' and, under the control of the main body, scattered to various locations to continuously inscribe Primordial Runes.
Levi planned to use today and tomorrow to complete the first phase of the stronghold's territory transformation.
In fact, after the efforts of the previous week, the environment inside the stronghold had already undergone earth-shaking changes.
Massive amounts of mana elements were gathered via the artificial ley lines. After being converted into pure Mana, they were stored in a Magic Core that Levi forged—or rather, modified—from the dragon heart dropped by the Pitch-black Triple-Headed Dragon. The excess portion dissipated into the air, constantly improving the environment within the stronghold.
Trees that had been artificially ripened sat in rows like scales across the area. Looking from the top down, they formed a second invisible magic circle used to solidify the mana environment.
In the outermost stone walls and floorboards, metal bricks forged from the melted shields and greatswords dropped by the Pitch-black Udaeus were sparsely distributed.
Inside each brick, a large number of defensive formulas were inscribed.
Combined with the inherent effect of ignoring Divine Power possessed by the Pitch-black monsters and their drops, it was no exaggeration to say that even if a god were enraged and wanted to fire a big shot at the Hestia Familia before being sent back to Tenkai, he or she would likely only face the result of failure.
As for other things, such as teleportation circles that automatically activated when dependents or the Patron God encountered danger outside, daily memory replication and reminder circles to guard against the Goddess of Beauty's Charm ability, and circles inscribed in the center of the training grounds to accelerate stamina and Magic recovery, etc...
These belonged to the small, icing-on-the-cake functions during the territory construction period.
Of course, the current Hestia Familia stronghold could not yet be considered the final form in Levi's conception.
It was just that for the subsequent phase two and phase three transformations, either the materials accumulated on hand were insufficient—this mainly referred to the materials dropped by the 'God Assassin' that carried the characteristic of ignoring Divine Power—or Levi's understanding of the Primordial Runes was still a bit lacking, meaning some effects could not currently be replicated in the DanMachi world.
The next day, because it was Monsterphilia, everyone in the Hestia Familia stronghold disappeared early in the morning.
Alise, Gojouno Kaguya, and the others had mentioned at breakfast this morning that they wanted to celebrate the festival with Goddess Astrea, and dinner would also be settled at the Star Garden.
Daphne and Cassandra prepared to stroll through the food street.
Liliruca had no interest in the festival; after eating breakfast, she ran to the training grounds to practice with the long spear. It seemed she intended to master the combat techniques she had learned from her employer as soon as possible.
As for Levi...
Draped in a white hooded cloak, with pale gold short hair, he was currently walking on the main street, enjoying the 'attentive gazes' of passersby on both sides.
As the adventurer who defeated Ottar in a frontal 1-on-1 battle, the title of 'Hero King' was still very resounding in Orario.
That being said, the citizens of the Labyrinth City were no country bumpkins; many of the elderly had even seen the heroes of the Zeus Familia and the Empress of the Hera Familia back in the day.
The main reason they cast their gazes upon him was due to the red-haired, one-eyed Goddess and the twin-tailed Goddess who were hugging his arms on his left and right, respectively.
In Orario, love stories between adventurers and gods were enduring.
Every few years or decades, there would indeed be one or two dramas where a god fell in love with a child of their Familia.
However...
Hestia was one thing; the Guild confession incident back then was still mentioned by quite a few adventurers in taverns even now.
But when was Goddess Hephaestus also taken down by the 'Hero King'?
Moreover, looking at the happy expression on her face, the time the two had been dating was likely not short.
Or perhaps, as some rumor said, the 'Hero King's' exclusive title among the gods was actually 'Goddess Killer'?!
____
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